heeren



C. H. HEEREN MULCHER n E fz-a7 May 9, 1961 c. H. HEEREN 2,983,322

MULCHER Filed June 12, 1957 2 Sheets-Shi'. 2

MULCHER Clyde H. Heeren, Rte. 1, Walshville, lll.

Filed June 12, 1957, Ser. No. 665,174

2 Claims. (Cl. 172-523) This invention relates to mulchers, and with regard to certain more specific features, to mulcher attachments for seed-planting equipment such as corn planters and the like.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of a mulcher for seed-planting equipment which automatically prepares mulched seed bed strips in a plowed eld as the equipment traverses the field; `the provision of a mulcher of the class described which requires no preliminary preparation of the plowed eld (such as disking, harrowing or the like) and which leaves the held in a superior loose, moistureretaining condition for rapid seed germination and growth; the provision of an adjustable mulcher head in apparatus of the class described which may be adapted conveniently to various field conditions, and which will not be fouled by old vegetation to be mulched or by impediments such as stones and the like; and the provision of apparatus of the class described which is simple in form and operation and which may conveniently be employed as an agricultural machine attachment. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter. v

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of vanious possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view showing the parts relating to the invention in solid lines and in dotted lines a typical double-unit corn-planting rig to which it may be attached;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a left side elevation of Figs. l and 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. l, showing one mulcher head and its drive shaft in operating position in a plowed field;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Fig, 4; and,

Fig. 6 is a left end elevation of Fig. 4 but illustrating an adjustment in which the mulcher head is in inoperative position.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawgWhile the present invention has application to various seed-planting equipment, -for purposes of disclosure it is shown as applied to a corn planter. Present-day planting procedures involve rst plowing a field, then harrowing or disking it in two or three operations, and then towing the corn-planting equipment over it for spacedly dropping the seed in rows on the surface thus prepared. This process has the disadvantage that the plowed clods of the entire area of the field are more or less finely broken up by harrowing and disking. This leads ultimately to undue packing of the soil, so that it will not Patented May 9, 1961 ICC as well hold moisture during dry periods. I have found it preferable that a substantial area of the field be left in its original plowed condition; but seed cannot be dropped and expected properly to grow well in a field that is merely plowed because of the coarseness of the clods.

By means of the present invention, disking, harrowing and like operations are eliminated, so that directly after a field has been plowed the planting equipment may be towed over it with my mulching attachment, to provide a superior field in -which are mulched seed bed strips, said strips being flanked by otherwise untreated plowed ground which is superior to harrowed and disked ground in moisture-holding and drainage characteristics.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 3, there is shown at numerals 1 conventional ganged (two) cornplanting machine rigs, each of which has a pair of wheels 3 of the usual form, adapted lightly to hill soil over the seeds that are dropped ahead of the wheels. The wheels 3 are attached to live axles 5 in frames 7. Carried on the frames 7 are seed containers 9, located above seeddropping chutes 11, leading to and through the usual sliding soil-grooving shoes 13. Included in each assembly of parts 9, 11 and I13 is a conventional mechanism adapted to drop seeds at intervals, this mechanism being driven by means of a chain drive 17 from a shaft 15 driven from the respective live axle 5. Various adjusting means usually carried on conventional rigs such as 1 are understood to be included but are not shown, being unnecessary to the present disclosure.

An appropriate corn planter may be either of the so-called drill type or hill drop type, depending upon soil conditions, the former dropping one kernel at approximately equal intervals, the latter dropping several kernels at greater, more accurately spaced intervals. Rigs such as 1 may be employed individually or may be gangoperated, two being shown by way of example, it being understood that gangs of more than two may be used.

,In order to gang them, they are usually connected by means of a crossbar such as shown at 179, fastened to the front tongues 21 of the rigs. Angle bars 23 are fastened to the members 19 and 21, being forwardly to by means of U-bolts 33. At spaced intervals on the crossbar 31, corresponding to the spacing of seed bed strips to be formed, are bolted vertical sleeve bearings 35. Each of the bearings supports a rotatable drive shaft or spindle 37, held in proper elevation by means of an upper collar 38 thereon. The outer shafts 37 carry single V-sheaves 39 and each of the inner ones carries two V-sheaves 41 and 43. Sheaves 39 and 43 on the left side of the machine are connected by means of a V-belt 45 and sheaves 39 and 41 on the right side are connected by means of a V-belt 47.

Attached to the converging front ends of the angle bars 23 is a flat supporting plate 49 and angle irons 51. Adjustably held to the plate 49 by means of an adjustable bolt and slot combination 53 is a speed step-up gear box 55. Its position is adjusted by means of adjusting screws 57, threaded through the angle irons 51. The gear box 55 has a horizontal input shaft 59 and a vertical output shaft 61. Its internal gear train is adapted to step up a speed of approximately 575 r.p.m. at shaft 59 to approximately 750 r.p.m. at shaft 61. The end of shaft t 3 59 is arranged for ya conventional connection with the power take-olf of the tractor used in towing the device.

Sheaves 63 and 65 are carried on the upper end of the shaft 61. Upper sheave 63 is connected with sheave 41 by means of a belt drive 67. Lower sheave 65 is connected with the right-hand sheave 43 by meansof na beltA drive 69. All of the sheaves 39, 41, 43,63 and 65 have the same pitch diameters, so that the speeds of shafts 37 are all equal to the stepped-up speed of shaft61v.

A typical mulcher head associated with each shaft 37 is shown in Figs. 4 6. These figures illustrate the lefthand shaft 37 of Figs. l and 2. Since all mulcher heads on the lshafts 37 are the same, a description of one will be suflicient for all. Each shaft Y37 has pinned at its lower end a sleeve 71 to which is welded a transverse crossbar 73.y The sleeve and crossbar constitute an inverted T-shape. Adjustably attached to the shaft 37 by means of a set screw 75 is a collar 77. A compression spring 79 reacts between the collar 77 and the lower end 81 of the bearing 35. 'Ihus the shaft 37 is biased downward by action of the spring 79 on the collar 77 to the limit shown in Fig. 4. This limit is established by the position of collar 38 on shaft 37. The collar 38 limits the protrusion of the shaft 37 out of the lower end of the bearing 35. If it is desired to increase the downward biasing force on the shaft 37, this may be done by loosening the set screw 7S, raising the collar '77 and again tightening the former. The amount of downward protrusion of the -shaft 37 may 'thus be adjusted by adjusting the position of collar 38 thereon. The set screw S3 is provided for the purpose of -rnaking this adjustment.

Mulching fingers 85, composed of 3/s circular rod-like stock, for example, 'are -attached to sleeve 71 and bar 73. Each mulching finger is constituted by -a horizontal angled portion S7, the end of which is welded to the sleeve 71. Each finger is right-angularly bent to provide a downwardly directed section 89 welded to one end of the crossbar 73. The vertical portions 89 are approximately 7" apart. Below the vertical portions 89 the fingers are swept rearward and anticlockwise, as shown at 91. Thus with respect to the clockwise direction of rotation shown Vby the dart D, the lower portions of these fingers consti- Vends as shown in Figs. 4 6. As shown in Fig. 5, the

angle around the axis of shaft 37 subtended by each linger throughout its spiral sweep and horizontal free end eX- ceedsninety degrees. g

Operation is as follows, assuming that by means of device 29 a hitch has been made to ya tractor and that the `tractor take-off mechanism is connected with the shaft 59;; also that the seed containers 9 have been filled.

The apparatus is towed in parallel 'adjacent paths across a field that has merely been plowed in preparationv for planting. The collars 38 are adjusted so that the mulcher lingers enter the plowed soil at the desired depth and the collar 77 is adjusted for correct resilient action of the fingers in the soil, as illustrated in Fig. 4. The larger plowed clods of the field arer illustrated at numerals 93. Then as the tractor tows the rigs 1 and drives the gear box S5, the shafts 37 become rotated clockwise at, say, 750 r.p.m. As the rig advances over the field, the spinning spirally trailing springy fingers 85 produce mulched seed bed strips, breaking up the clods 93 along each strip into finer particles and mulch 95, the depth of which is dependent upon the -adjustment of the collars 38 and 77. The rotary centrifugal action of the lingers 83 results not only in breaking up. the clods but acts as a classifier, the finest particles appearing along the center of the trench thus formed, the coarser particles being Spun out more or less laterally, with the coarser unbroken clods between the seed bed strips. It will be understood that in `any plowed lield there exists'fibrous organic-material due to a former years, growth includingI old roots, corn stalks, grass, weeds, et cetera. ThisY is broken up and mulched into the line earth particles in the trench T. Since the spiral sweep of the fingers is downward and rearward with respect to rotation, these` fibrous materials are not caught on the ends of the mulching fingers, but are wiped olf during the mulcbing action, keeping them bright land clean. Moreover, the downward spiral trailing form of the fingers lassures that if any obstructions are met with in the soil, such as rocks, land the like, the fingers will have a spiraling upward skewing action against compression of springs 79, causing them to ride over the obstruction without damage.

As the machine advances, the conventional shoes 13 of the planting rigs 1 follow the mulchers in the trenches, dropping or inserting seeds at timed intervals. The following wheels 3, which have double concave flanges as illustrated at 97, serve to push soil over the seeds without undue packing. All of the soil ofthe field, except that mulched in the trenches T, is left in the merely plowed clod form, which is idealfor holding moisture during dry periods for later absorption by the liner mulched materials in the trenches. wind erosion in drier regions.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, when it is desired to tow the rig away from the field, the shafts 37 may be raised by adjusting the collars 3S downward, thus raising .thev

mulching fingers S5 into idle position above the surface of the earth. In this position they may be left to rotate during towing or, if desired, the connection between the tractor take-off and shaft 59 may be disconnected. In some cases, power take-offs have decoupled clutches, which can be used for the purpose of stopping rotation of fingers 91.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the invention has the following advantages:

(l) The apparatus is simple in form and adaptable as an attachement to various planting rigs.

(2) The only preparation required for a eld to be planted is plowing it, no harrowing, disking or the like being required. l

(3) The mulching action of the relatively high-speed mulching fingers prepares a much better mulched surface into which to drop the seeds. This surface is restricted, to narrow seed bed strips or trenches, leaving the remainder ofthe iield in plowed form adapted betterl to retain moisture and to resist wind erosion.

(4) The spinning rearwardly spiraling lingers classify the soil along the trench with the finer particles centrally located and the coarser ones transversely located against the coarser sides of the trench. j

(5) The rearwardly and downwardly spiraling form of the ngers avoids their picking up and becoming clogged with librousmaterial during operation, and results also in their ability to skew up and ride over obstructions without damage. l

(6) The depth and character of the mulch in the tranches T may be independently` controlled as desired by adjustments of the respective collars 3S and 77 and thusV independent Ibed preparations may be made in adjacent trenches for different types of seeds, if desired.

(7) The entire construction is rugged, low-costr andy troubleproof.

In view of thev above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the. above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not ina limiting sense.

` about ak substantially vertical aXis, a transverse head onk the lower end of said shaft, a plurality of spring fingers.

This is also ideal in reducingeach of which is constituted by spring metal rod of sub- References Cited in the le of this patent stantially constant cross section and having an upper portion axed to said head, each nger extending from its UNITED STATES PATENTS iXed portion in a substantial spiral sweep down and 30,554 Hogl': OC- 30, 1860 afOUIld Said axis in a rearward trailing direction relative 78,400 Stafldlsh May 26, 1868 to the direction of rotation, and terminating in a trail. 89,791 Qulck May 4, 1869 ing substantially horizontal soi1.wiping free end, the 135,664 Poundstone Feb. 11, 1873 angle around Said aXS Subtended by each finger through- 435,462 S11-11th Sept, 2, 1890 Out S Spiral Sweep Starting at said upper portion and 510,143 Kelsey et a1 Dec. 5, 1893 terminating at Said free end being at least ninety degrees, 10 1,198,589 shellabel'gel' Sept. 19, 1916 2. A rotary soil mulcher comprising a shaft rotatable 1,259,587 Arnold Mar. 19, 1918 about a substantially vertical axis, a single transverse 1,506,042 Bauer Aug. 26, 1924 bar on the lower end of said shaft, a single spring finger 1,811,041 D nms June 23, 1931 axed to each end of said bar and constituted by a 2,215,364 SlmmOnS Sept. 17, 1940 Spring metal I'Od 0f SubStantially Constant circular gross 15 2,420,500 Schu May 13, 1947 section, each finger extending from its aiiixed poi-tion 2,560,443 HOSfOrd July 10, 1951 in a substantial spiral sweep down and around Said axis 2,611,302 De Balros Sept. 23, 1952 in a rearward trailing direction relative t0 the direction 2,732,783 Murphy Jan. 31, 1956 of rotation, and terminating in a trailing Substantially 2,749,826 Bulllngton June 12, 1956 hOl'ZOntal Soil-wiping free end, the angle around said 20 2,848,932 HOPk'lIlS Aug. 26, 1958 aXS Subtellded by Cach ngel' throughout its Spiral sweep 2,912,055 Buddlngh T 'NOV. 10, 1959 starting at said upper portion and terminating at said free end being at least ninety degrees. 

